
“Woe to the flesh which depends upon the soul, woe to the soul which depends upon the flesh!”
112
Gospel of Thomas (c. 50? — c. 140?)
Source: Death's Master
“Woe to the flesh which depends upon the soul, woe to the soul which depends upon the flesh!”
112
Gospel of Thomas (c. 50? — c. 140?)
“Let us cry, "All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul!"”
Source: Dramatis Personae (1864), Rabbi Ben Ezra, Line 70.
Quoted by Will Durant in On the Meaning of Life http://books.google.com/books?id=XH5HAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Either+the+soul+is+immortal+and+we+shall+not+die+or+it+perishes+with+the+flesh+and+we+shall+not+know+that+we+are+dead+Live+then+as+if+you+were+eternal%22&pg=PA53#v=onepage (1932)
Context: What shall we know of our death? Either the soul is immortal and we shall not die, or it perishes with the flesh and we shall not know that we are dead. Live, then, as if you were eternal, and do not believe that your life has changed merely because it seems proved that the Earth is empty. You do not live in the Earth, you live in yourself.
"Ulysses," lines 16–20, from Poems 1930-1933 (1933).
Poems
Suicidez-vous, désespérés, et vous, torturés du corps et de l'âme, perdez tout espoir. Il n'y a plus pour vous de soulagement en ce monde. Le monde vit de vos charniers.
General Security: The Liquidation of Opium (1925)
“The foolish rush to end their lives.
Only the steadfast soul survives.”
Source: Lyric Poetry
"Song" in The Best Poems of 1923 (1924) edited by Thomas Moult